Mother Nature's Twins
by LunaduSoleilx3
Summary: Everything has a beginning, right? So must the nations. No pairings as of yet, contains continent!ocs to be introduced later. Take place in the year 2012.
1. The Beginning

It was a beautiful summer day as the child ran through the grass in the vast field. Her eyes were as green as the grass around her and they twinlked with laughter in the sunlight. The white tunic she wore was flowing as the wind picked up while she continued to run straight into the forest. She stopped short, digging her heels into the muddy earth. She closed her eyes and listened. Taking a deep breath, she followed where she was told to go by the great whispering wind, the meadow in the middle of the forest, where she would find her mother sitting near the tree trunk awaiting her arrival.

Her speed picked up as she ran towards the field, faster and faster, untill she landed with a tumbleand a laugh in the grass and into the field. She opened her eyes and there she saw her mother gazing down at her.

"You're late." Said the deer. The girl sat upright from her position.

"Sorry mother, I was at the staring out at the ocean for such a long time. Then the wales came to talk to me and they took me for a ride around for awhile. Oh mother; I wish you could have come!" The child flopped down in the grass again, laughing at the memory.

"Well, surely I'll have to change myself into a whale later on and we'll go swimming together. Now, pick up your Orcarina and play me a tune, my dear, I haven't much time left in the human world before sunset."

"I know, I know."

"You know why I can't be here past sundown, correct?"

"Yes, mother, you've told me a billion times. That's when the darkness comes out to hunt kind spritis and turn them evil."

"And why do they want to get my spirit?"

"Because you're Mother Earth and if they take over you, they take over the planet and make it evil, like they did the other planets out in the sky."

"What a fine memory you have, child. Now, play me a tune on the instument." The child nodded egarly as she began to play her instument. The notes flowed together in perfect harmony and created the most beautiful tune any creature would hear in their lives. The deer, the girl's mother, closed her eyes and let herself get lost in the music. Her daugheter was a fine little girl, and she was a pure as the clean mornign air on a warm summer day.

"Very good, Pangaea."

-------------------

The late spring breeze filtered thorough the screen door of Alfred's kitchen. He inhaled the scent, and smiled. This was his favorite time of year, what with all the cookouts, birthdays, and weekend getaways with Matt, there was always so much to do.

Except for today, for some reason.

As the T.V. blared the wews from the next room over, he listened intently for a few moments.

"_So far there have been a total of four crimes related to the end of the world 2012 theory. As the number begins to rise police are taking more and more action against the…" _Blah blah blah. Everyone knows the Mayans thought the world would end long before their calendar did so they only made it go up to a certain date. Some people are fools.

"Tony!" Alfred called. The little green alien peeped out of the doorway of his room and looked at Alfred. "What are we gonna do today?" Tony made a face and pointed to the list Alfred had made a couple of weeks ago. Alfed stood up and peered at it. Everyhting was crossed out accept for one thing…clean out his storage closet.

"UUUUUUUUUUGHHH. No." He said defiantly to his comerade. Tony pointed to the broom and mop and garbage bags in the corner. "NO." Tony pointed to the phone.

"No! Don't call England, all he'll do is complain that he doesn't understand Martian. Again. And you know what he did the last time you called him." Tony's eyes went wide. "That's right, he called the Government on an Alien sighting and you almost got deported. You know, you're the only illegal alien I like." Alfred stood up and sighed.

"Fine, you win. I'll go get changed and start cleaning. Happy?" Tony gave a thumbs up, and then proceeded to go play Xbox. He had n00bs to pwn at Modern Warfare 2.

Alfred changed and grabbed the cleaning supplies from the corner and made his way to the hallway storage closet. When he opened it, he was greeted by a great cloud of dust and the smell of dampness. There were boxes and other things cluttering the shelves, ranging from papers and medals to pictures and rocks.

This was going to take forever. May as well get started now.

And so, there was Alfred, three hours later, covered in grime and going through boxes. And by going through boxes, I mean playing an old handheld game he had found in the first box he searched through. The battery then gave out, leaving Alfred to let out an "Aw!"

"Well that sucked! I was so closeto kicking the gym leader's ass too." He crossed his arms and set the console down, and looked up.

All of the boxes looked the same, all packed on the shelves in boxes and bags minus one that seemed almost falling off of the shelf. So Alfred stood and began to rummage through the misfit box. Inside was a bunch of junk like pictures of him with past presidents (his current one with Obama hung neatly on the wall next to the picture of him and Matt that one weekend out in the mountains), but what seemed to stand out most was a small velvet box. It looked worn with age, no doubt from sometime in the late fifties, and it was covered in dust.

Alfred cocked an eyebrow and picked up the box. He didn't remember this. He tried to pry the lock open but he couldn't. Odd. His hero strength usually demolished such foolish things like small boxes ( and yet it couldn't help him kill Russians in Modern Warfare.)

He shut the closet door behind him with a slam and placed the small box on the end table by the couch in the living room in the almost direct beam of sunlight. Just then, his phone rang (the national anthem, what else), and Alfred went to answer it. While he was in the other room, he didn't see the sun move ever so slightly to put the box in direct sunlight. The box shook for a moment as it began to glow, and suddenly, the intricate lock on the box popped open.

"Mattie, it's like, the wieredest thing ever. It wasn't in my closet the last time I cleaned-whoa! Hey, it opened." Alfred said into his phone.

"Very funny Al, boxes don't just open at random."

"Well this one did!" He lifted the lid of the box up and peered inside. There, in the center of the box, was a small metal ring.

"It's a ring." He said, lfiting the item from its position. He observed the ring with much curiosity. It was small, only about as big as the width of his pinky finger. It was made up of a metal material, most likely iron of nickel, but it wasn't rusted. In fact, it was in perfect condition.

"Where would you get a ring?" Matt asked.

"Dunno." Alfred said. He slipped the ring onto his finger. It fit perfectly. Just then, the ring began to glow again, and words began to form on the outter side. Alfred gasped. "Dude, the thing just…wrote words on itself!"

"…Alfred, what has Tony been feeding you?"

"I'm serious!"

"Well what does it say?" Matt asked.

Alfred was silent for a moment.

"Alfred?"

"It's in the old language." America said after a long moment of silence. "I can barely make out what it says…I can read 'the sun' and 'cannot' and 'moon',other than that it all looks like jumbled up."

"…Alfred, what does it look like?" Alfred described it to his twin. There was another silence.

"I'll call you back."

_Click_.

What was that about? Alfred continued to look at the ring for a minute before it hit him, _he had a book with an explanation of the old language in it!_

He scrambled to the bookshelf (covered in dust, like the closet) and began to flip madly though the pages, untill he got to what looked like an alphabet. Score!

Quickly, he scratched out the english equivalent of each funny squiggle and line. After he did, he pulled back into the light to read what it said:

"_The sun cannot rest without the moon."_

His phone rang again, Matt.

"Alfred, I have a necklace just like that. There are no words on it though…"

"Put it on!"

"Fine fine! Give me a second…ah ha! Here we go. Mine's in the old langauage too!"

"Can you read what it says?"

Another silence.

"…No. I'm sorry but I don't remember the old langauge much."

"Look, I have a book that has the old language in it-"

"Where did you get that?" Matt asked.

"Swiped it from Arthur when I was mad at him a couple of years ago." Alfred said with a grin. "Not the point. How quickly can you get here?"

"Well I haved to call my boss and let him know but-"

"So the next flight out?"

A pause. Then a sigh from Matt.

"Sure."

And that's how the end of the world started.


	2. The Resturant

I'm glad to many of you people have hope for this story; it really pushes me to write more/try harder to make it more interesting. Please review!

* * *

The sky darkened as Pangaea ran into the forest for shelter. Faster and faster she ran until she slipped and fell into the muddy earth below her feet, soling her once pure white tunic. Scrambling to find her balance, she quickly hid beneath the leaves of a tall oak tree and shivered. Where was mother? Usually during storms she would shift into the form of a great Tiger or Forest Lion to keep her warm and dry, and remind her that the passing storm was just the tears of the many fallen titans.

But she was nowhere to be found.

Pangaea had cried out for her mother at the first rumble of thunder over the distant shore. She had asked the trees, the flowers, the animals, anyone who could help her find her mother. The rain beat down on the ground in a fast rhythm and forced all the creatures into their homes.

For the first time ever, Pangaea was, and felt, all alone. As the storm beat down on the huge, thick tree leaves, silent tears streaked down her face. Her mother was gone, and there was no one for her.

Time went on.

The once young girl aged into an even prettier young woman. He features were all filled out, and she was perfect as perfect could be. She was, as they say, what image the humans were created out of.

Eventually Pangaea began to get along all on her own, turning away from the creatures her mother had created for her. (Her playmates, mother had said one day.) One lonely day on the shore by the sea, Pangaea looked up into the sky for a moment, and suddenly began to cry.

"Oh mother, why would you leave and not tell me? What have I done to hurt you? Have I betrayed you? Harmed the glorious planet that you created?" No answer. She began to sob harder until she crumpled to her knees on the sand of the beach. The wind whipped and howled as somewhere in the distance, Mother Earth wept with her daughter.

The sun began to fade into the ground as Pangaea lay in on the ground when a figure approached her from behind.

"E-excuse me, young lady? Is something wrong?" Pangaea sat up in the grass and looked towards the creature. It was a male, and he was beautiful. His hair was the color of the snow out in the mountains, and his eyes were the lightest shade of blue that Pangaea had ever seen in her years.

"Hm? Yes, I am fine. It is just…I long for my mother. She left me so many years ago without a warning and it's just…I miss her." The man knelt down beside her, and placed a kind hand on her shoulder.

"A pretty young thing such as you shouldn't be crying. I mean, you're beautiful. Honestly, your mother doesn't know what she's missing."

"Do you believe so?"

"Yes, very much. Ah, I'm sorry, I never introduced myself. My name is Ouranos. I am…how should I put this…the sky itself. I represent all that the sky is and ever will be. Is that strange?" He asked, looking at the girl with caution.

"No, for I am Pangaea, than land that which we are sitting on. My mother was Earth herself." Ouranos was taken aback by this comment for a moment. Then he smiled. It was like the sun had rose in her heart for the first time in many years.

More time lapsed, even though neither seemed to age more than a few days or weeks no matter how the years dragged on. Eventually these weird creatures began to emerge from the sea, and they made themselves right at home on the land, without even asking.

How rude.

But Pangaea was so much in love with Ouranos that she didn't really seem to care at first. The day was clear and calm by the sea where the two had first met, soaking in each other's company and discussing the human's role in the new world now that the fearsome beasts had all died out. They sat idly hand in hand as the waves lapped up on the beach. Silently, he turned to place a kiss on her cheek and then asked her "Would you like to come live in the sky with me?"

Well what was she supposed to say? No?

And so it was that they were together for the rest of their days, living in the castle made of clouds that he had built for her, "Nothing less for the queen of my heart." How sweet.

And for years on end, there was harmony between the Earth and Sky.

----------

Matt stood in the doorway of Alfred's kitchen, soaked.

"I hate rain." Matt said, handing Alfred his two bags and placing Kumajirou on the floor. The bear shook the water out of its fur and looked up at Matt.

"Who are you?"

Matt sighed. "I'm Canada. You know, the guy that feeds you?"

"No." He said in response and trotted off to go find Tony. They had catching up to do, and by catching up, I mean playing Super Mario Brothers on the Wii.

"Alright Mattie, your bags are in the guest room, let's get down to business. Where's the necklace?" Alfred said clapping his hand together, even though he had the book in one hand. Matthew silently moved the necklace from behind his shirt and into the light. It was like the ring, only more flat like a washer without the hole in the middle and it was smaller.

They sat at the kitchen table, Matt leaning over a stack of newspapers so his twin could see the metal piece around his neck. Alfred peered down at the small piece and read the scribbles, quickly translating them into words he could understand.

_The moon cannot shine without the sun._

"What do you think it means?" Alfred said, handing the paper to Matt. Matt moved his head to one side and shrugged.

"Dunno. All I understand is that you're somehow the sun and I'm somehow the moon."

"Whaddya mean by that?"

"Well, think about it. You had the ring with the saying about the sun." Matt made a gesture to the ring on Alfred's pinky. "I had the necklace with the saying about the moon. I think it just means we're polar opposites. "Matt said, leaning back in his chair, relaxing a bit.

"I can see that, but where did these things come from? I never remember having the ring when I was a colony." Alfred asked, quite puzzled.

"Same here. But do you know who would?"

The thunder rumbled outside as both boys scrambled to their cell phones.

"Hello, Arthur?"

"Allo, Francois?"

--------

A half hour later, Alfred closed his phone with a sigh and placed his hands on his head. Sometimes Arthur was just a headache. He had nothing. Arthur didn't remember the ring, but was furious about the book ("You return that book right now! It's much older than you'd think!" "Make me old man!")

Matt was still on the phone with Francis talking in a fast French tongue.

"S'il vous plaît, appelez-moi de retour avec toute information que vous trouverez mai. Merci, bonne journée!"

"What was that about?" Alfred asked, confused. He never did pay attention during his French lessons all those years ago.

Matt sighed. "He says I was wearing the necklace when he found me. Apparently, I was very protective of it. When I first learned to speak he would ask me all the time where I got it and I would just smile and laugh."

"Strange."

"Very. He says that after awhile I just took it off one day and never put it back on. When he left me to England he left it wrapped up in the clothes I brought with me and let England know about it."

"Why would you just take it off one day?"

"No idea." Once again, Matt sighed. "What time is it?"

Alfred glanced towards the clock.

"About five. Why?"

"I'm starving, want to go out for Chinese?" Matt asked with a smile.

"Hell yeah I want Chinese!" Alfred said, lighting up.

They grabbed their coats and an old umbrella and left (but not before asking Tony and Kuma what they wanted. The usual for both of them.) The rain had lightened up, but it was still heavy enough to soak someone clean through to the bone. The night was illuminated by the street lights and many buildings along the way as they walked along the oddly barren streets. A single car disrupted the peace of the night by splashing by the boys as they turned into the restaurant.

It was quiet here too, no one else was there but the workers and the two boys who had just walked in. "Table for two please." Matt said politely to the young Chinese waitress.

She looked up from her post and stared the two of them down. "Follow me." Sluggishly, she moved, carrying two sets of menus and table settings. The boys sat down in the booth. Alfred immediately picked up his menu and began to peruse the menu.

"You're getting the usual?" Matt asked, absentmindedly playing with a straw and its wrapper.

"I guess. And you?"

"Same."

There was silence. Both boys looked out the window.

"You know, there hasn't been any…action lately. I want something great to happen like…like…" Alfred said after a moment.

"An alien invasion? What, is a recession just getting cleared up and political corruptness on the rise, life not fun for you?" Matt said with a grin. His twin leaned over and punched him in the arm playfully. They shared a laugh as the waitress came over to take their orders. The waitress walked away groaning and muttered something under her breath in Chinese. She then called into the kitchen "Mama! We've got a huge order! It's the fat American again!"

The door slammed shut behind her. Alfred then threw his spoon at the door.

"I'M NOT FAT!"

"That's right; you're fluffy." Matt said as he continued to look out the window. Another punch in the arm.

"What has this arm done to you?" Matt asked with a small laugh. Alfred cracked a smile and went back to the window. The streets were still empty. Very odd; at five usually there was a huge traffic jam of busy workers waiting to get home.

After the food had been brought over warm and hot and the boys began to chow down, the host turned on the flat screen over behind Alfred and began to play the news. Most of it was just the usual stuff, things about Obama's plan to bring the troops home finally starting, which celebrity was pregnant, cute stories of a child who saved a cat from a tree. It wasn't until that one story came on that Matt's interest was piqued.

"Thanks Tom. In other news, we have story of a total solar eclipse that will be visible in parts of the U.S. and Canada on May 20th!" Matt looked up at the screen and sucked in his noodles.

"That's right Kim! It will be the first solar eclipse visible here in the U.S. for a while. How exciting!"

"Alfred, look!" Matt said nudging his brother. Alfred turned to watch the T.V.

"What, it's just a stupid eclipse. I've seen a bunch. What's so big about it?" Alfred bit into his chicken.

"Think about it: We just happen to find these things before the eclipse? Maybe it means something!" Matt said, almost yelling (Which was still nothing more than a low whisper to Alfred.).

"Huh, you think so?"

"Possibly."

"Well what happens on the day of the eclipse? What do we do? Have you stand in front of me and let there be a shadow on something?"

"Shut up. I don't think this is fate." Alfred gave a small laugh.

"You worry too much Matt."

-------------

The plot thickens.

_Allo, Francis? – Hello, Francis?_

_S'il vous plaît, appelez-moi de retour avec toute information que vous trouverez mai.__Merci, bonne journée!" – Thank you, please call me back when if you get any more information. Thank you, good day!_


	3. The Night

It was a lovely afternoon as Pangaea sat in her cloud kingdom on a (quite lavish) throne her now husband had constructed for her.

Heh, marriage. That was a HUMAN concept, Pangaea thought to herself as she stared down at tiny little creatures. They were so strange with their fire and home building. It was cute, in an odd way. Just then the doors swung open to reveal Ouranos in a deep purple cloak walking towards her.

"Afternoon, dear." He placed a soft kiss on her cheek. She blushed, turning her cheeks a pretty rose color and smiled.

"You treat me so fairly my love." She said. He said nothing as he waved his hand to make a chair for himself. "Something wrong?"

"It's the humans. They're getting too powerful." His soft facial expression turned cold, mean. "They think they can just abuse the land like they do. It's terrible what they're doing to the great land you've given them." Pangaea stared at her husband.

"My mother gave them."

"Whatever. I say we just wipe them out all together." Ouranos said looking out the adjacent window, scowling.

"No! If mother created them for a reason then they must stay." No response. She huffed.

"They're worthless."

"They have a purpose!"

"Animals, the lot of them."

"Animals use the lands too!"

"At least animals are kind enough to bow to you when you descend upon the Earth." Ouranos said.

"I'm going for a walk."Pangaea stood and brushed the cloud off of her robes and began to walk away. Ouranos watched her with an angry expression on his face.

"I'm telling you, they're horrible creatures! They're going to destroy the Earth one day!" He yelled. Slam. She was gone.

Pangaea stepped down from the cloud and thought for a moment. Maybe Ouranos was right, maybe these creatures were bad. If they did destroy the Earth, she would cease to exist. But that wouldn't happen for a long, long time. So wiping the thought from her mind, she ran into the forest and sat in her normal spot. There, tucked deep into the trunk of the tree, laid her Ocarina. She glanced around, making sure no human was around, and she began to play the sweet and soft melody she had played so many times for her mother.

From a high cloud, Ouranos watched his wife. What was she doing? She could attract a wild beast! Or even worse: a human. Those nasty creatures would kill her! Terrible, terrible! In a fit of rage, he threw his fist into the wall of the cloud and pulled out a bow and a set of lightning arrows. Angrily, he loaded the bow and shot an arrow down at a village of humans. It sparked, and started a fire among the houses. He cackled as the humans scrambled to put out the fire like rabid monkeys fighting for a banana. Suddenly, he heard a shriek form the forest.

Pangaea screamed as the shock hit her so fast and painfully. She fell to her knees in front of the stump: she had never felt this kind of pain before. What happened? Quickly she stashed the ocarina in the tree trunk and ran to the ocean where he was brought up on a cloud. The pain was getting worse and worse as she was escorted to her home. Ouranos was there to pick her up like a doll and bring her inside and create a bed for her out of the softest of cirrus clouds.

"What happened?" She asked him as she lay panting on the bed. The pain had lessened.

"It was the humans!" Said Ouranos. "They misused the fire and created a great fire. It was big enough to engulf a whole village!"

"Are…they okay?" She asked, curious.

"I'm afraid not my love." He placed his hands on hers and cradled them softly. "The village was wiped out." Tears welled up in her eyes. And there she lay for a moment, weeping for the lost humans.

For the next few weeks, Pangaea began to feel more and more pain. Once while she was cleaning up the dishes from dinner she felt the side splitting pain of the mass killing of humans.

The humans were fighting; they blamed each other for the fire, so they killed those accused. The war escaladed to the point where Pangaea was bedridden for days on end. The pain killed her slowly each day, to know that the humans were fighting and she could do nothing to stop it, not matter how she tried, no matter how she asked her husband to make it rain and put out the fires. Then there was that one peculiar day as she lay in agony, when the final blow hit.

It was terrible, a group of humans had been burned in a fire, which in turned caused a forest fire that killed so many animals and left even more homeless. With a final scream, Pangaea used one of her last breaths to explain to her lover her fate.

"That's it." She said with her husband by her side. "If I can't stop these humans from fighting, I'll move them away from each other." She screeched again.

"Ouranos." She pleaded, tears in her eyes as she turned to face her husband. "You must listen to me carefully: I can only say this once. As I lay dying-"

"NO! You're not killing yourself to save these humans from bloodshed. I'll kill them all before I let you die!" He slammed his fist on the side of the cloud bed, tears falling.

"No! I'll surely die then! Just listen. As I lay dying, you are to take a jar-"(Another moan of pain) "and place my soul in it. Then, split the essence into seven. Then release them all one by one. The spirit should know where to go and in turn will create the world as the humans will remember it."

"But my love-"

"Please, do this for me." She begged. With what little strength left, she leaned up to kiss her husband one last time. "I love you Ouranos. So much…" And in that instant, she raised her hand and plunged it into her chest. She screamed as she pulled the pure white mass from her chest and let it go, her body fading into nothing without a soul.

"Pangaea! NO!" He screamed. But she was already gone. Quickly, and crying at the same time, he swiped her soul up and shut the lid on tight. And then he collapsed on the bed and sobbed. By the time he was able to compose himself enough to fulfill his wife's wishes, the sun began to fade into the milky twilight of the night. He dragged his limbs to the window when he stood and looked over the Earth. The planet was dying with no soul on it to keep it alive. It was then that he split the souls.

He took a piece of his wife's essence, kissed it, and let it go. "Europa." He whispered. For each fragment, he kissed and named it as he let the tiny white mass go with the wind.

"Asya. Amerika. Anta. Maya. Auslia. Afrikana." He let each go, tears falling once again. And it was there that he sobbed. Beneath the feet of the humans, the ground began to split and crack at the great mass continent split and diverged from itself.

And somewhere in the distance, seven beautiful little girls were born from the earth.

-------------

The next night the boys were sitting on Alfred's back porch drinking cool glasses of lemonade. The silence between them was peaceful as the wind ruffled the tree leaves. Occasionally the silence would be broken by Alfred trying to make a conversation topic, but Matt didn't respond.

"So…how about the Olympics?" Matt didn't respond. Alfred sighed.

"Look, if you're upset over that eclipse thing…"

"I am."

Alfred paused for a second to make eye contact with his brother. He sighed and stood up.

"Don't be. If it makes you feel any better, we'll go and watch the eclipse. Okay?" Alfred walked away from Matt and headed for the back fields. He turned on his heel to face Matt and stuck his arms out to his sides in a wingspan.

"Now come on. Stop sulking. Let's go for a walk." Alfred said. Matt sat there for a second and watched his sibling. Why would he give in so easily? Could it be that he was curious as to what would happen too? Matt shook his head. He stood and ran after Alfred.

They ran through the field together and along the pastures behind Alfred's house. They both lightened up in the cool summer air and began to reminisce about summers past. They talked about how they used to run through the fields as children far, far away from the arguments of the adults. How, when they were teens they would sneak off to the village and try to court some fine young ladies ("And they were pretty damn fine, too.")

Now this, my readers, is how to spend a summer.

It was picture perfect. They made their way back to the house (not before stopping to catch the ice cream man; and that wasn't hard with Alfred screaming "OH MY GOD STOP! I WANT A GOOD HUMOR BAR!" as Matt practically keeled over with laughter at his twin's antics) as the sun set in the west. The stars appeared in the night sky and the moon rose up into the sky to put the stars to shame with its brightness. They lay down in the grass of the yard, head to head, and watched the stars.

"What if something does happen with the eclipse? Like, what if…" Matt asked quietly after awhile.

"The Mayans were right and we all die a terrible death? I don't believe that."

"Neither do I."

They went quiet; the only thing stirring up the night air was the sound of the crickets chirping in the distance. The bushed rustled in the distance as a small animal ran through the grass. Clouds floated in from the east and moved in from time to time to shield the night from the great white disc in the sky. Alfred sat up.

"Well, I'm done out here. I'm going to bed. G'night, Mattie."

"Good night, Alfred."

Matt watched him shut the screen door behind him and turned back to the night sky, getting up to head inside himself. In the distance, a wolf howled up at the moon. Matt turned to face the sound as a breeze moved through the air, and he saw the great yellow eyes of the beast staring him down. The wolf whimpered and bowed and before Matt knew it, there was a small pack of wolves in front of him bowing. Matt Looked around, and not knowing what to do, bowed back. The wolves howled simultaneously and ran away from Matt.

Confused, Matt stood at the back door and looked at the moon. What did the wolves know that he didn't?

The next morning, the plans were all sorted out, the bosses knew what would be going on, they made sure they didn't have a meeting with the other nations, Kumajirou and Tony both had their papers in order so they could fly (because if you bring your "dog" on the plane the terrorists win), and Alfred was all packed. So for now, the boys sat at the kitchen table, drinking tea and coffee and listening to the news.

The window was open and a breeze blew in from the field as Alfred chattered on and on about some random thing he had found that was so cool. Neither noticed the bird fly in the window and land on the windowsill until it chirped. Confused, they both stared at it.

"Hey there!" Alfred said with a small smile at the bird. He extended his hand and let it jump to his finger. He laughed as the bird nipped his finger playfully.

"Alfred! Put that thing outside, it could have diseases!"

"You know, Arthur said the same thing about you when we got you from Francis." Matt frowned.

"Not funny." Matt said. Alfred laughed at his own joke.

"Alright my friend, you belong outside." He placed the bird on the windowsill and waited. The bird didn't move. "Well what are you waiting for? Go outside! It's nice and sunny! And look, there's a pretty girl over there! Go get her, little buddy!" The bird did as commanded and chased after the female.

"Strange." Matt said, sipping his tea.

"What? The bird? No, he comes by once every while to say hi and then he leaves." Matt cocked and eyebrow.

"How long as this been going on?"

Alfred counted on his fingers. "Since March."

"There's something wrong with you."

"Why, because I've got a cool bird friend?"

"Shut up, Alfred."

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Third chapter. And I don't think I've published it here on , but I plan to do an FST for this fic because it's my longest one ever. Thoughts on that?

Reviews are wonderful!


	4. The Eclipse

Sorry this took so long. I hate exams. Here, we get to meet a new person…who could she be?

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The sky was the perfect shade of blue on that May day. Inside of the forest, people gathered and sat down to wait for the eclipse to happen, and not looking out of place at all were Alfred and Matt. The twins sat on a red checkered blanket eating a lunch, Kumajirou the "albino Siberian husky" and Tony the "mutt of a Chihuahua and German shepherd" at their side happily munching on some sandwiches.

"So, when does this thing happen?" Alfred asked, spread out on the blanket. He lay back, letting the sun caress his face.

"The weather website said around noon." Matt said, looking at the watch on his wrist. "It's 11:45." Alfred groaned.

"A whole fifteen minutes? That's so boring." Just then, a crowd of people began to enter the forest. "What the hell are all these people doing here?"

"They're here to see the eclipse, Alfred."

"I know that, but why are they coming here?" Alfred said quite loudly. A little girl ran by the twins and stopped dead in her tracks and stared at Tony.

"That's a weird dog." She said, moving her head to one side to stare at him. Tony looked her straight in the eyes, and barked.

Hey, after all of this time Alfred claiming he was a dog and keeping him on a leash when they went out in public, why not act like one?

The girl screamed and ran off as Alfred laughed. "Nice one, Tony!" He reached over to high five his little green comrade.

"Alfred!"

"Matt! Look, let's find somewhere else to go; these people are freaking me and Tony out." It was true; the little creature was about to unload a whole can of Modern Warfare on these people, Russian phrases included.

Matt sighed. "Fine, but if we miss this eclipse because you wanted to be a baby about being around people, don't come crying to me when the world ends."

"Don't worry, I will."

Matt shoved his twin as they gathered up the materials and headed deeper into the forest.

Down the rabbit hole, one may say.

They walked along until they reached an empty clearing. The grass we a perfect shade of green and the forest encircled them all around, showing the path they took to be the only one in the clearing. The trees were like tall green giants looming in the distance, watching, and waiting, for something to happen. Here, the sun looked like it was almost in the center of the field. Alfred ran ahead and stuck his arms out wide.

"Dude. This place is perfect!"

"I know. I wonder why no one else is here…" Matt put the blanket and basket down, along with Kumajirou.

"What do you expect? Canadians are stupid." Kuma said, looking up at Matt.

"You know, you're legally Canadian." Matt said down at his bear.

"I know. But who are you?" Matt sighed, and checked his watch again. 11:55. "Alfred, get your ring out! Matt unclasped his necklace and kept it in his hand as Alfred slipped off his ring.

Within five minutes, the eclipse began.

It was beautiful, the moon and sun in harmony once more. The moon moved quickly across the surface of the sun until each was blocked out. For some people this once and a lifetime experience was quite breathtaking; we earthlings are able to see the sun's great rays stretching into the sky and lighting up the darkness.

Blinded by for a second, each boy put his treasure in front of his face until it lined up perfectly with the eclipse.

"Hey, check it out! They're glowing!" Alfred said with a smile. It was true; Alfred's ring was giving off a brilliant gold glow while Matt's necklace was giving off equally bright silver light.

For a moment, nothing happened.

"Well, maybe we have to mimic the eclipse?" Alfred suggested. A funny feeling in his stomach made him inch closer to his twin.

"We could try." Matt moved so his necklace covered Alfred's ring. And just then the glow of each object began to glow wildly, colors entwining to create a ring of light around the objects. The light flickered and sparkled until one beam hit the right tree, the one directly in the center of the field, and suddenly, a path opened directly in front of the twins.

"Whoa." Alfred said, moving his hand down and moving the ring away from the necklace. The eclipse began to fade away, and so did the path.

"Come on Matt!" He ran ahead into the path, not stopping for anything, not even his brother's cries of "Wait! Stop! You don't know where that goes!" But Alfred couldn't stop, he wanted to, but couldn't. He kept running and running, like something was pushing him to run. His surroundings blurred around him as he moved faster and faster trough the lush green path, heels digging into the Earth.

And when he suddenly stopped, he tumbled to the ground, to the dirty Earth, where he lay panting in the grass. Suddenly, he began to laugh. Uncontrollably, and he couldn't stop!

"Oh…Matt…that was great!"

Matt looked over at his brother for a second, confused as to running at inhuman speeds was funny, but then he started to laugh. They were laughing so hard that they didn't notice the figure staring at them with a smile on her face on the tree trunk five feet away.

Huh, strange.

"Oh, you boys are so silly! Why are you laughing?" The girl asked, standing up and walking over to the boys. They both stopped laughing hard enough for a moment to look up at the figure.

This time, it was Matt's turn to ask who someone was. The figure let out a tinkle of a laugh and then sat down on the tree trunk again. She looked around, left, right, up and down, and then she stuck her hand in the tree trunk and began to grope about for something. Matt and Alfred exchanged a look.

"…Um, miss?"

"Shhh!" She hushed. Alfred frowned. Who was this fruitcake?

"Got it! Take that Europa. I knew it was on my lands. But no, she had to be all 'It's at Easter Island, it only shows up once a year! That's why the figures were built because they have to watch over the instrument! '. Blah, blah, blah. Siblings can be so stupid sometimes, no?" She gazed at the boys, deep blue eyes smiling. She looked at the thing in her hand, the yam shaped object shone pure silver in the light.

"Who are you?"

"Huh. I'd like to tell you, but Asya would murder me, we don't exist anymore."

"What do you mean-"

She started to play whatever the object was. The melody soft but sweet in the air, and suddenly, animals came out of the forest, peeking out from bushes and trees. Astounded, Matt and Alfred stood up and watched.

When the song was over the woman pulled the instruments away from their lips and smiled. "Just as I remember it." She sighed.

"So, how are you boys?" She crossed her legs and put her hand on her chin. Alfred nudged Matt.

"Alright, we'll play along: we're fine, how are you?" Alfred said with mock care. The woman frowned and pursed her lips.

"Don't talk to me like that."

"Look, ma'am? I'm sorry for my brother's actions, but quite frankly, we don't know what's going on." The woman stood and ran to engulf Matt in a hug.

"Oh my little Canada! You're just like I imagined!"

"Hey, get off of him you crazy broad!"

"LET ME HUG HIM." She said glaring at Alfred as she pulled Matt in closer.

"You're just like your father, so kind and sweet and considerate. And then you have to go and knock up a poor girl and leave her for the wolves!"

"E-excuse me?"

"Oh, wait, ha! TMI. Can't tell you yet!"

Alfred frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "Why not?"

The woman frowned and looked down for a second. "Look, everything will be explained in time. For now, I need you to do this: take the ocarina. Keep it safe, give it to no one, and protect it with all that you are. At midnight tonight, the keeper of the night will come and give you more instructions. Okay? Please, stay safe. " She turned towards the sun and inhaled.

"I love the smell of Earth in the morning." The wind picked up for a second, flowing through her short blond hair and making her smile. Her toes curled into the dirt and she turned to face the boys.

"I wish I could tell you more, I can't." Tears peeked out of the corners of her eyes. "My time is up here…for now…" And she disappeared.

Clasped in Matt's hand was instrument. Both boys stood in shock for a moment; what did she mean? Just then, the path opened once again. And again, both boys felt compelled to run through the forest path again. By the time they got out, the sun was fading into the night sky, and somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled.

"Weird."

"Very."

The sky darkened.

"What should we do now?" Matt said, turning to his brother. Alfred bit his lower lip.

"I say we throw the stupid thing away and go back to our normal lives. This whole thing is…crazy. I mean, random women with music instruments who can't tell us anything? The keeper of the night? That strange path that we both ran into without even thinking? You have to admit, that's weird, even for us. What's going on?" Alfred said the last bit to no one in particular. Something tugged at his pant leg and he jumped about four feet in the air. Turns out, it was just Tony.

"Look buddy, even I don't know where we went." The alien cocked his head to one side. "Don't give me that look."

"Matt, I'm done. I'm not staying here to wait for some beast to come and eat us. I'm going back to your place, sitting down on the couch and watching the hockey game that's on tonight!" Alfred began to walk away. "Coming?"

Matt turned to face the moon for a second as he fingered the necklace in his hand. What did it have in store for him?

----

Back at Matt's house, the two lumps sat on the couch, watching the game go on and on. They had snacks and soda, and they had been talking all night long about what had gone on, what they felt. They laughed as Alfred cracked open another beer, and Matt glance up at the clock. 11:58. Alfred saw his brother and gave him a light tap on the shoulder.

"Nothing's gonna happen Matt. Don't worry about it!" Just then, the power flicked off for a moment.

"Very funny, Matt!"

"That wasn't me." Suddenly, the temperature dropped. It was extremely cold in the room now, much colder than it usually is in Matt's house. Alfred drew his jacket closer to him.

"Alfred? Is it cold in here or…" There was a knock on the window. Both boys glanced at each other, for a second, worried.

"Very funny Matt!"

"Alfred, that wasn't me." Matt said tiredly. Why did he get blamed for everything?

"So what was it?" Simultaneously, they turned around to face the big picture window behind them.

And what they saw made them scream like little girls.

--------

Review please!


	5. The Keeper of the Night

"That wasn't me." Suddenly, the temperature dropped. It was extremely cold in the room now, much colder than it usually is in Matt's house. Alfred drew his jacket closer to him.

"Alfred? Is it cold in here or…" There was a knock on the window. Both boys glanced at each other, for a second, worried.

"Very funny Matt!"

"Alfred, that wasn't me." Matt said tiredly. Why did he get blamed for everything?

"So what was it?" Simultaneously, they turned around to face the big picture window behind them.

And what they saw made them scream like little girls.

It was a giant beast, like one that you would read about in a fantasy novel but this one was, well, to be frank, real. Its fur was such a shade of blue it was almost black and the hair clung to the creature in large clumps in certain parts and hung wildly in others. It snarled, showing its long yellow teeth and fangs. Its yellow eyes glinted in the moon light, red pupils giving a sense of terror. The beast howled and in the distance something howled back. And for some reason, a chill from the past ran down Matt's spine.

He recognized this creature.

In one swift movement, the beast swung its arm into the glass of the window, shattering it into tiny bits on the floor and sending Matt and Alfred ducking and covering under the couch. It jumped into the room with such great force it made the house shake like a leaf on a breezy day and caused a few objects to fall from the shelves. It sniffed the air, and then extended its claws underneath the couch to flip it up and out of the house, furthering the damage done to the window and mental scars that would plague the twin's dreams from time to time.

"Fret not, twins of the legend, for I am not an enemy." The beast extended a muscular arm, moon reflecting off of the fur and illuminating its claws. Both boys sat up and were slack jawed at the sight of a giant creature looming before them. The beast wore no more than dirt colored, ripped pants. On its back was a bow and arrow that was strapped to him by a leather strap going diagonally across its chest. It kneeled before Matt.

"Moon twin, I am your humble servant." Alfred looked at Matt, who really didn't understand what he was saying.

"Y-you're the keeper of the night?" He asked, timidly.

"Yes, I am Knox, leader of the wolves, and keeper of the night. I have been sent to you from Mother Amerika to tell you what she has given me to say."

"Mother…Amerika?" Alfred asked. 'Uh, I'm a dude,' Alfred thought, but didn't dare say. There wasn't any telling what this thing would do if he said anything more.

"Correct. She asks me to tell her twins this important information." He paused to get a piece of paper out of his back pockets. He cleared his throat and began to read in his deep voice:

"To my dear Twins: This may come as a shock to you, but you were not created to way you were believed to have been. Your story is quite different from the others. This is not the time for that story now, now is the time for your destiny. On the day of May the fifteenth, you are to meet Ouranos the Great and show him the ocarina. From there, he will tell you as much as he can, and once again our paths shall cross. On the way, the Bringer of Light will guide you along and show you how to get to Ouranos. Do not stray from the path, don't damage the ocarina, and please, PLEASE, don't talk to anyone who asks about the ocarina. All will be explained in time. I love you boys more than words could say. Stay safe! The location of the Pathway to Light is enclosed, and the notes to the song. Matthew, you've ten days to learn the song by heart and play it for Ouranos. Only you can do this. Don't let me down!

All my love,

Mom."

The last line made Alfred laughed out loud. The beast looked up at Alfred curiously.

"Is something wrong with him, Moon twin? Has he the plague?"

Matt gulped at being addressed by Knox. "Uh…no…it's just…"

"We don't HAVE mothers! Obviously this chick is insane, whoever she is. Is this a prank? Germany, is that you in that costume? I swear, it Cuba put you up to this…" Alfred stood and put his hand around the town fangs that stuck out of Knox's mouth and pulled. _Hard_.

Knox growled and threw Alfred across the room. Matt gasped and ran to him, kneeling down as Alfred began to try and prop himself up.

"Moon twin, has your brother no respect for the Elders?" Matt frowned, what was this guy talking about?

And then it hit him.

Once, a long time ago, before Matt was found by the nomads of his land, the Elders of the Earth oversaw him and made sure he was safe. They were not the highest ranking creatures that existed, but they were the ones who kept nature in harmony. Matt was a child of the land, as they had told him, and it was their goal to make sure he was safe. He remembered them all, give or take a few, since they had been like parents to him.

Matt slowly turned around to face Knox. "The…Elders?"

"Do you not remember young one?" said Knox, bowing his head.

"I-I do, but it's been so long since I've seen you guys. Where have you been?"

"Narnia." Alfred said, dazed. Matt looked down at his brother, frowning. Knox shook his head and extended his arm for Matt to grasp the paper with trembling hands.

"After so many years here on Earth and what with you not needing us anymore since you had found more you're your kind, we left." Knox bowed his head. "We were banished to the in-between, the place where all lost souls go."

"You should have gone back to the Kingdom in the Sky." Matt said, remembering. Memories flicked across his vision fast and free. "What happened?"

"Europa."

"And she is…?" Matt asked, bending over to pick up Alfred and prop him up on his shoulder. Alfred giggled at the touch, Half unconscious from the blow.

"Not the time for that." In the distance, wolves howled. Knox howled an earsplitting howl back after that, causing Matt to cover his ears for a moment. "Moon Twin." Knox said, peering at Matt with his bright yellow eyes, "If you should ever need me or any other the other night beasts, play the song of the night and we shall be on our way in no time." With that, He jumped from the living room to the outside through the shattered window.

"But wait!" Matt called, and Knox turned to face him once again. "I don't know the Song of the Night!"

"Yes you do. Look deep within yourself." And with that, he took off into the dark forest, and the power came back on. Matt sighed, and set Alfred on the chair in the corner and threw a blanket over him. He surveyed the damage. Nothing too important was broken besides the window, and most of the items on the floor could be put back together with super glue. He'd have to call the glass company in the morning. THAT was going to fun to explain. Matt inhaled as Alfred stirred, sitting up to rub his head.

"What happened?" He asked, looking at Matt curiously.

"Big wolf knocked you out and told me what we have to do to find our mom."

"Mmkay." Alfred said, laying back in the chair and sinking down into the plush chair. He shut his eyes and pondered for a moment. Mom.

_Mom?_

Alfred sat up quickly, eyes snapping open to look at Matt. "Wait, what?"

"Alfred, it's late, we'll talk about it in the morning. Okay?" Matt said, hand on the light switch.

Alfred sighed. "Fine. Whatever." His head hurt like hell, he didn't feel like arguing at the moment.

And with that, Matt shut off the light and headed upstairs. When he go to his room, he shut the door quickly and quietly, paper still clutched in his hand he set it down on his bed side table and opened the drawer. Inside was the ocarina, and as matt reached in to pick it up, it began to glow silver.

He sat on his bed, legs crossed, paper in his lap and ocarina in his mouth and began to play, soft and sweet.

-----

Amerika shut the door behind her quietly. She looked around and sighed. Everyone must have been in bed, or out. Quickly, she ran to the stairs of the great empty room and made a mad dash up them.

"Where have you been?"

She froze.

"Uh…nowhere." She bit her lower lip, golden curls bouncing at every movement.

"Oh really?" She turned to face the figure, her older sister. Europa stood in her usual wear, black dress with red running through it. Her feet were clad with black sandals that made a tap-tap-tap noise as she beat it against the floor in aggravation. "You weren't, oh say, looking for the ocarina were you? Because you know that if you found it and don't give it to me, I'll fucking kill you." Amerika gulped.

"No, I was having dinner at the quaint little restaurant out in Western America." She said nervously. "It's quite nice, you should go there sometime." Amerika climbed a few more steps.

"Are you sure? Now, why would you go to dinner on the day that the passage between the in-between and Earth is open? You see," Europa said, beginning to climb the stairs, "I think you were getting the Elders from their prison."

"Was not."

"Really? Well than it must have been Asya who _let out Knox_ and _Helios._" Europa barred her teeth and dashed up the stairs for her sister. Amerika ran up the stairs as fast as she could, but Europa was faster. She grabbed her younger sister and pulled her into a headlock.

"Listen here you brat, I know you know where the ocarina is. And I want it. Now."

"I…I don't have it." She said.

"Where is it?"

"I'll never tell you!" Amerika broke out of the headlock and ran straight down the long hallway.

"Fine! Be that way! And when your precious twins are bleeding red on the surface of the New World you'll regret this!" Europa shouted. Amerika stopped.

"You wouldn't."

He sister grinned.

"I would." Slowly, she walked towards her sister, taunting her.

"You see, unlike me, you had to go and whore yourself out to the nearest spirit who made you feel loved just because your older sisters were busy. " Europa said loudly. "You poor girl, all alone on that vast land of yours and no one to play with."She said with fake sympathy in her voice. In a snakelike manner, she pulled her sister into her arms with such strength that it knocked the wind out of Amerika for a second. Europa picked up her younger sister, and despite all the thrashing and moving from the smaller being , slung her over her shoulder.

"You can't do this! My boys will surpass your powers, Europa! You're a terrible sister and mother!"

Europa stopped dead in her tracks.

"I'm no mother to these…creatures. They're merely divinations of me to take care of the land and keep me pretty. Oh no. I'm not a mother. You're the mother here, you little tramp. You're the one who got pregnant with some random god and popped out a set of twins!"

"Shut your mouth!" Amerika said, with a swift kick, she kicked her sister, but it didn't faze the older woman. Angrily, Europa flipped Amerika over and gripped her by the collar of her tunic.

With a flick of her wrist and a push of her will, a door appeared in front of them, a deep black color. She waved her hand and the door opened, and she dragged her sister on the floor and threw her easily into the door.

"If you won't tell me where the ocarina is, I'll find it myself, even if I have to pry it from the cold, dead hands of your nations!" She said. She let out a cackle and slammed the door tight, locking it and using a magic barrier so her sister had no way of getting out.

Amerika looked up at the door, and smiled.

All according to plan.


End file.
